KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 — Bursa Malaysia recouped most of its earlier losses to end at its intra-day high of 1,600.29 despite closing marginally lower by 0.02 of-a-point today.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia (FBM KLCI) was mainly supported by buying interest in plantation-linked heavyweights.
The market barometer opened 15.40 points lower at 1,584.91 from 1,600.31 at Wednesday’s closing and moved between 1,581.26 and 1,600.29 throughout the day.
On the broader market, sentiment remained weak as losers outpaced gainers 616 to 229, while 334 counters remained unchanged, 754 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover was lower at 1.94 billion units worth RM1.85 billion compared with yesterday’s 2.40 billion units worth RM1.65 billion.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the local market today moved in line with the drastic decline in the overnight Dow Jones Industrial Average which dropped over 800 points, pushing the US yield curve inversion into the limelight.
“This is because investors are shifting their asset allocation towards fixed income especially government bonds to preserve their investment capital. This is especially true when trade war between the US and China is highly uncertain,” he told Bernama.
Mohd Afzanizam anticipates that the FBM KLCI will remain volatile until the US-China trade tension is resolved.
At the closing bell, Sime Darby Plantation rose 14 sen to RM4.81, Kuala Lumpur Kepong put on 28 sen to RM23.90 and IOI Corporation was up three sen to RM4.23.
However, finance-related heavyweights such as Hong Leong Bank lost 38 sen to RM17.04, while Maybank and CIMB both declined four sen each to RM8.55 and RM5.05 respectively.
Commenting on the performance of financial services counters, Mohd Afzanizam said the financial market is the key indicator of the global economy and the steep drop is not a positive sign.
“Usually, the financial markets are ahead of the macroeconomy especially in the context of the ongoing trade war,” he said.
As for the actives, Bumi Armada eased one sen to 21.5 sen, KNM and MNC Wireless both shed half-a-sen to 37.5 sen and 7.5 sen, respectively, Genting Malaysia declined four sen to RM3.07 and Ekovest dipped one sen to 81 sen.
The FBM Emas Index declined 18.5 points to 11,317.48, the FBMT 100 Index erased 14.55 points to 11,156.42, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 7.01 points to 11,848.83.
The FBM 70 reduced 77.97 points to 14,101.23 and the FBM Ace fell 50.25 points to 4,591.61.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gave up 123.92 points to 15,556.38, the Plantation Index gained 81.43 points to 6,803.43 and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.52 points to 149.63.
Main Market volume declined to 1.19 billion shares worth RM1.67 billion compared with 1.62 billion shares worth RM1.46 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover increased to 497.67 million units worth RM129.53 from 428.79 million units worth RM119.14 million.
Volume on the ACE Market decreased to 245.44 million units worth RM42.77 million against 347.13 million units worth RM65.10 million on Wednesday.
Consumer products and services accounted for 234.93 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (174.62 million), construction (85.57 million), technology (169.07 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (50.92 million), property (106.29 million), plantations (11.87 million), REITs (23.51 million), closed/fund (8,000), energy (223.10 million), healthcare (16.13 million), telecommunications and media (50.03 million), transportation and logistics (35.57 million) and utilities (14.65 million). — Bernama
